Page 23 of Claiming His Student

I’ve heard that sentence a lot recently, but I’m done giving him time. Either he loves me and accepts me or he doesn’t. Either he values my happiness or he doesn’t.

My Dad enters the room now and our eyes meet. He doesn’t look angry anymore, but his expression is hard to read. Is he still mad at me? I don’t know. But he doesn’t stick around to talk to me. He makes his way to the back of the lecture hall to observe the class. Moments later, Dylan arrives and I feel my heart do a backflip. His eyes linger on me for a moment and he smiles. Penny leans over to me.

“God, you guys are sickeningly cute.”

I smile to myself. Penny always knows how to cheer me up. Dylan takes a deep breath at the front of the class and addresses the room.

“Alright, class, let’s talk Jane Eyre…”Dylan

It’s over. My final lecture is complete. It went as I knew it would. I had the students rolling around with laughter, engaging in an open conversation, thinking deeply about the book...but of course, none of that matters because I won’t get to see them through their final year now. The whole lecture, I felt the Dean’s cold gaze on me and I knew that he couldn’t wait to see me go. But I guess I can understand that. I have the one good thing in his life that he pushed away. He must be feeling the sting of having Cora leave by now. It’s no wonder he hates me.

But now the class is over I need to find a way to tell the students that I’m going. I glance at Cora and she gives me a sad but encouraging smile. I’m glad she’s here to get me through this because this feels harder than I expected. I guess I’m not quite ready to let my career go. But I will. For Cora.

I take a deep breath.

“Alright, class, before you go...I should tell you that your next class will be taught by someone else…”

I’m about to dive into an explanation but I meet the Dean’s eyes across the room and he stands, shaking his head. I pause in confusion. Is he telling me not to make this announcement?

“Uh…”

The Dean makes his way down to meet me at my lectern. He turns to the class.

“Ignore that announcement there’s been a misunderstanding. Mr. Harker will see you at your next scheduled lecture. Now, run along.”

I have no idea what’s happening. Why is the Dean lying to them? Why is he making this whole thing harder when he knows I won’t show up for the next lecture? Maybe he’s trying once again to make me give up Cora, but that’s never going to happen.

I wait until all the students have left before facing him. Cora rushes to my side and I feel stronger than ever.

“If you’re trying to tell me that I can stay so long as I end our relationship it’s not happening. I’d rather go,” I growl. But the Dean shakes his head.

“No, that’s not my intention.”

“Then why are you here?” Cora asks. “You’ve been avoiding our calls. You don’t want to make things right between us. So stop torturing me, just say whatever you want to say so we can leave.”

The Dean sighs. “Cora, I’m here to say that Dylan can keep his job. You can carry on with your relationship in peace. It goes against protocol….but since you’re engaged, I think I can let it slide. We can tell people that you met before this class even started if asked…I am the Dean. What I say goes and I think that if this is what makes you happy, then I’d be a fool not to support it.” He pauses. “And I suppose congratulations are in order. For your engagement and your pregnancy. I want to say...I am truly happy for you both.”

I frown. Has he really changes his tune. Or is he working an angle here, but if he is, I can’t figure out what. He sees the look on my face and sighs.

“I know this might not seem insincere given the way I behaved the other day. But I truly just want to make things right. Dylan, I see the way you’ve changed my daughter. I see a happiness in her that has never been there before. That’s down to you. How can I take that away from her? And how can I miss out on everything just because I don’t want to let my daughter go?” He turns to Cora. “I’m so sorry that I told you to leave and I hope you’ll accept me back into your life. I already lost the love of my life. I don’t want to lose you too. I know I can be overprotective and overbearing but it’s only because you’re all I have left. I want you to be safe and happy, but now I can see that you’re going to be fine with Dylan. I can see he’s a good man.”

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